Why a Tuesday Night Win in Utah is One of Our Favorite of the Season

The Celtics were sluggish Tuesday night. No way around it. But they found a way to grab a win on the road, in altitude, thanks to a full team effort that saw players deliver exactly what the team needed at different stages of the game. In particular tonight, we highlight Luka Garza, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard and Anfernee Simons.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Now obviously posted on one of my favorite wins of
the year for the Boston Celtics, and we are gonna
talk about it right now. Thanks for tuning in. This
is the sound Off Postgame podcast presented by Exfinity Mobile.
And yes, the Boston Celtics did just log their twentieth
win of the season. It was a one twenty nine

(00:26):
to one to nineteen win on the road out in
Utah in the third game of this road trip. The
season now two to one on this road trip with
a couple more games to come. Now, why is this
win one of my favorite of the season. I'm gonna
talk about it right now and listen. If you watched
this game, and if you didn't watch it and you're

(00:47):
listening to this, hopefully you get an understanding of what
we were watching. For those of us who were tuning in,
the Celtics didn't have it tonight, point blank period. They
did not have it tonight, yet they still won the game.
That is my favorite part about this game. Like, you
watched this game and it was kind of just like

(01:08):
they were stuck in mud. It was like they I
sent this out on Twitter during the game, but it
seemed like they just woke up from a nap just
a little bit foggy. Cobwebs were up there in the
brain making mistakes that they don't normally make, and this
happened throughout the game, and yet still they find a

(01:29):
way to win. They should have lost this game. They
should have lost this game because they didn't play well.
And you look on the other side of the ball,
Kyante George thirty seven points, Yusuf Nurkic had his best
game of the year, near to triple double twenty six points,
eight rebounds, eight assists, Lauri marking in with twenty two points.

(01:51):
Like the Jazz played well and they were rested, and
on the other side of the ball, the Celtics come
out don't look anything like themselves. They look like they
are totally stuck in mud, making poor decisions, all of
their shots missing off the front of the rim, which
by the way, is an indication of a team that
doesn't have its legs underneath them. And yet you fast

(02:14):
forward to the final buzzer and the Celtics don't only win,
but they win by ten points for their twentieth win
of the season. So that is why this is one
of my favorite wins of the season, not because of
it looking great. In fact, it's the opposite. I love

(02:35):
this win because it didn't look good at all. It
was ugly, but they found a way as a team,
and you gotta applaud that, especially on the road in
a high altitude city. Great win for the Boston Celtics. Now,
how did they start to turn things in their direction?

(02:55):
It started in the first quarter with a guy who
checked in off the bench named Luke Garza. And this
guy just continues to you know, he was out of
the lineup for a while. Then he came back into
the lineup, into the rotation because of some absences on
the Celtics roster, and he played himself right back in

(03:16):
Like now, Joe Mazula can't take him out of the lineup.
And you love to see this throughout the season. Different
guys have done this at different moments, and Josh may
not didn't even play tonight. That doesn't mean he's out
of the rotation. What it means is that right now
Luca Garza has to play, and especially tonight, he had
to play. And what he did tonight is he changed

(03:38):
the game. During the first quarter, he checked in and
had eight points during the first quarter alone, did not
miss a shot, made a three pointer during that stretch,
and those eight points played a huge role in starting
to turn the momentum just a little bit for the Celtics,
who it looked like they were gonna score eighty points

(03:59):
in this game. They started out just no one had
their rhythm. But then Luca Garza checks in and just
changes the momentum with his effort level, with his shot
making ability, and his activity around the basket, and he
winds up in this game with fifteen points, six rebounds,
including four offensive rebounds during this game, so just continues

(04:22):
to do exactly what he's been doing for the last
week or two that has pushed him back into playing
on a nightly basis, and this is again after he
went a pretty significant stretch of not really playing much
for the Celtics. Great to see it continue that different
players continue to step up when their numbers are called.

(04:43):
Luca Garza was a guy who did it tonight. Who
else did it? We've got to give credit to Derek White.
Derek White had a historic night tonight. And if you
weren't following, you're gonna love to hear this. As our
tailor Snow sent out after this game. Derek White is

(05:06):
the first guard in the history of the NBA to
log at least twenty seven points, seven rebounds, seven block shots,
and six assists in a single game. Jordan didn't do it,
Kobe didn't do it. Like there, you can go down

(05:26):
the list, Dwayne Wade didn't do it. No one else
did it as a guard until Derek White did it
tonight a career high seven blocks. This is a guard
blocking seven shots in a game. And the best part

(05:47):
about Derek White's performance is that in the first quarter
he didn't score a point, zero for four from the field,
all of them three pointers, had a turnover. Was one
of those guys who just didn't have it out of
the gates. Fast forward into the second quarter, missus two

(06:09):
more three pointers, is only three attempts of the only
three pointer attempts of the quarter, goes into halftime with
only five points. Okay, five points, five rebounds, three assists,
four block shots at halftime, and then he comes out
and just finds his rhythm offensively during the second half

(06:32):
to catapult the Celtics into the winner circle. Twenty two
points during the second half alone, added three block shots,
had three assists during the second half, a couple of rebounds.
He was a plus ten during his eighteen plus minutes
of the second half, and the Celtics needed it. Made
a bunch of big shots when the Celtics needed it,

(06:55):
as they were kind of going back and forth with
this Jazz team until that fourth quarter when they started
to pull away, and he was a big reason why.
So in a way, Derek White's performance tonight was kind
of like a microcosm of the entire Celtics performance tonight.
They started out and just did not look good, but

(07:17):
kept chipping away, kept sticking with it, kept themselves in
the game mentally, and then at some point the floodgates
open and they found a way to pull away for
this victory. So great performance by Derek White, great performance
by Luca Garza to spark the team during that first

(07:39):
quarter and really throughout the rest of the game while
he was on the floor, had some beautiful plays, made
a couple three pointers, a heck of an and one
under the basket. Great to see those guys delivering for
the Boston Celtics. And then how can we not talk
about one Jalen Brown who unfortunately his thirty point streak

(08:00):
came to an end tonight. He was unable to finish
out the month. This was the last game of the month.
If he scored thirty, he would have scored thirty in
every single game he played in in the month. No
Celtic had ever done that. No Celtic had ever scored
thirty plus and ten straight games. He had a chance
to do it tonight. He came up short. But that's okay.

(08:21):
And the reason why it is okay is because he
still wound up with a double double with a game
high ten assists, only two turnovers during this game, and
he almost shot fifty percent from the field, so he
still had a great performance in My favorite part about
it was that during the final he checked back in

(08:43):
with I think five minutes and twenty ish seconds left,
he only had I believe it was nineteen points when
he checked back in seventeen or nineteen points. He needed
to really go on a run to get to thirty,
and instead of forcing the issue to score points in
try to break this record or set this record for
Celtics history, he prioritized winning. He made the right play

(09:08):
after the right play, including one drive where he got
doubled under the basket on the baseline, kicked it out
to Anthony Simons for a three in the corner. That
was his tenth and final assist of the game, and
that was an assist that really was one of the
final nails in the coffin for this Jazz team that
was trying to hang with the Celtics and trying to

(09:30):
get this one to come down to the wire. It
didn't in large part because Jalen Brown made the right
play after the right play, and that one in particular
was with two fifteen left in the game, pushed the
Celtics ahead by just enough to make it seem like
Utah really didn't have a chance. And by the way,
that three pointer by Anthony Simons wound up pushing the

(09:51):
Celtics ahead by eleven like it just felt at that
point like the Celtics weren't losing this game, and sure
enough they did not. But great to see Jalen Brown
not forcing the issue. He did it the other night
because he knew he was checking out, he knew the
Celtics were winning the game. He got those final two
to three pointers to get himself up to thirty and

(10:13):
this was obviously in the win in Indiana, but I
wouldn't consider that forcing the issue. But you know, he
had a chance and he went for it tonight. He
didn't really have a chance, and what he really wanted
to prioritize was the Celtics getting a win, and that's
exactly what they did. So just a very enjoyable experience
to watch Jalen Brown do this in front of us,

(10:36):
as he had history in the palm of his hands,
and he didn't care about that. All he cared about
was the victory. All right, We're going to dive into
a couple of comments here from our fans. The first
is coming in from Brian, who actually is commenting on
what JB just put together during this game. And then
the second one is coming in from Stephanie on what
she loved about the Boston Celtics being able to grab

(10:59):
this win, and not only grab this win, but how
they grabbed this one. So let's hear the first one
here coming in from Brian. I think here one put
your mobile bill in half and saved sixty five dollars
a month for your first year with Expinity Mobile. All right, folks,

(11:22):
Brian is up first, and he says JB didn't reach
ten games, but he still needs love for not forcing it.
He had opportunities to try and score, he chose to
pass to the open man. Unselfish winning ball mentality. A
double double isn't a bad thing to end the streak with.
And Brian, your comment here sounds very similar to what

(11:45):
I just said a few moments ago. You just gotta
love what Jalen Brown brought to the table tonight. Did
not force the issue, really just prioritized his teammates and
his team in trying to get a win tonight and
get back into the win column again. This was the
Celtics twentieth win of the season. They are now twenty
and twelve on the year. It's a heck of a
record and Jalen Brown is the main reason why we

(12:08):
all know that he is a top five six or
so MVP candidate. This season, he has been unbelievable and
showed again tonight. This was a double digit assists night.
On a night when no one else on the Celtics
dished out more than six assists, he dished out ten,

(12:30):
so really impressive. The way that he moved the ball
around for the team found open guys in particular during
that second half when the Celtics went on their run.
Great job by him to not force it, as Brian says,
and really choosing to pass to the open man whenever
that comes up. And listen, we're only thirty two games

(12:51):
in at this point of seeing Jalen Brown be the
number one option on a team, you never know what's
gonna happen. There's going to continue. We're only thirty two games.
We've learned a lot, but there's going to be moments
in the rest of the season where we see Jalen
Brown in that position for the first time in his
career in a particular scenario. Tonight was the first time

(13:15):
we've seen Jalen Brown in that particular scenario where a
game was hanging in the balance. He had an opportunity
to chase history, and instead of chasing that history, he
did what the team needed to grab the win. So
we just continue to learn more and more about Jalen Brown,
the number one on question, number one scoring option on

(13:37):
a team that when push comes to shove, he really
doesn't care about the scoring. What he really cares about
is his team winning the game. And that's exactly what
Brian is saying here. Winning ball mentality. So a great
double double from Jalen Brown. I want to look this
up and just to see how many double doubles he

(13:58):
has on the season now with this point, he has four.
So tonight was his fourth double double of the season
and it was a beautiful one with as I said,
twenty three points to go along with a game high
ten assist. Great performance from Jalen Brown. I'm sure it's
a bittersweet moment for him that he did not make

(14:18):
history tonight. During this game, he knew for certain, he
knew going into this one that he had a chance.
But I love the fact that he did not force it.
Brian also loves the fact that he didn't force it. Now,
I got a feeling that anyone in Celtics Nation who
watched this game, you all feel the exact same way.
All right, real quick word from our sponsor, Exfinity Mobile

(14:39):
before we dive into our next comment from our fans.
You know that extra spark of energy that can make
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ultimate fast break season after seas Exfinity imagine that. All right, Stephanie,

(15:03):
you're up with our second and final comment of the night.
All right, Stephanie, you're up. Here's what she had to
say after tonight's win. This was the definition of a
gritty win, she says, from Derek White's blocks to JB's assists,
in Garza in full beast mode all game, they really
got a little bit from everyone today. Ah. I love that.

(15:28):
I love that, Stephanie, thanks for sending in the comment.
And really let's pay attention to this of what the
Celtics got from top to bottom. I mean, during that
first quarter, we already spoke about Luca Garza scoring eight points. Well,
Namias Keda also scored eight points in each of those
eight points from those two guys was a career high
scoring total for a first quarter. So those guys gave

(15:50):
the Celtics what they needed during the first quarter. As
we talked about, Derek White gave the Celtics what they
needed during the second half with his twenty two points
during the second half to go along with all those
seven block shots, three of which were during the second half.
He moved the ball around for six assists, grabbed rebounds,
a couple of offensive so great job by him. You

(16:12):
also get eighteen points from Peyton Pritchard, who was masterful
from inside the three point arc. He was seven for
eight from inside the three point arc tonight. He could
not be stopped. Like he was in full rhythm with
the ball in his hands, just putting the Utah Jazz

(16:32):
on their heels all night long when he got inside
the three point line. From his hesitations to his footwork,
to spin moves to looking off with a fake pass,
like he had everything in his bag tonight when it
comes to scoring from around the painted area, and it
was a beautiful thing to watch. On top of that,
we've got the Jalen Brown double double. On top of that,

(16:53):
we had Jordan Walsh contributed six points and three rebounds
during this game as he started made half of his
shots off the bench. We already talked about Luca Garza
with fifteen points and six rebounds. Also Anthony Simons, he
gives the Celtics twenty points. And by the way, let's
talk more about Anthony Simons, Okay, because this guy is

(17:17):
making such a great impact off the bench for the
Boston Celtics in his first year as a full time
reserve in the NBA, in especially playing major minutes. He
scored twenty points off the bench tonight on six for
fifteen shooting, shot four for ten from distance, made all
of his free throws for assists, five rebounds, a steal,

(17:39):
and only one turnover. And the number that screams out
loudest is the plus twenty seven. The Celtics outscored the
Jazz by twenty seven points during his twenty eight minutes
of action. Clearly they were a better team while he
was on the court. His shooting, the way that he
can spread the floor, make tough shots, including that kickout.

(18:04):
It wasn't a tough shout tough shot, but it was
spreading the floor on that kickout off the drive from
Jalen Brown to push the Celtics ahead by eleven with
just a couple of minutes left. He continues to play
at a high level for the Celtics on a nightly basis,
And you know, there's some great stories going on out

(18:24):
there about Anthony Simon's kind of